Although the effect of a foreclosure on your credit score will not be permanent, you need to work to get your credit rating back to its pre-foreclosure levels. Here are four measures that will boost your credit after a foreclosure:

Change Your Spending Habits

Anytime you want to save your credit rating, the first thing you should do is to take a hard look at your spending habits and identify the areas you can improve on. You don't need to buy a designer handbag; buy cheaper alternatives since the expensive ones may force you into debt. If you have been eating out several times per week, it is time to reduce it to maybe once per week. Eliminating a small expenditure might not seem like much; however, several such eliminations will go a long way in reducing your overall expenditure and improving your budget.

Keep Using Your Existing Credit Lines

You may lose access to some of your credit lines, but you need to keep using those that you get to keep. It may be difficult to get new credit cards after a recent foreclosure, so treat the ones you already have carefully so as not to lose them, too. This means, for example, making your payments on time so that you can maintain both your credit limits and interest rates.

Get a Secured Credit Card

A secured credit card operates just like a conventional credit card; the main difference is that you need a security deposit to get a secured credit card. For example, if you deposit $2,000 with the credit card issuer, you get a secured credit card with a $2,000 limit. You lose your security deposit if you default on your credit card payments. The good news is that the expenditures you make with the secured credit card and the repayments for those expenditures are reported to the credit rating bureaus. This means you can use it to build your credit if you don't have a conventional credit card or if the limits on the other cards are too low.

Go Easy On New Debts

The last tip is not to rush into taking new debts. For one, every credit application gets sent to the credit reference bureaus, and making too many inquiries may lower your rating. Also, adding more debt at the time when you are trying to improve your rating isn't a wise idea because you may default on them and hurt your rating further.

The above tips should help you improve your credit score and qualify for your next loan. Practice them religiously, and your next credit evaluation should yield a positive answer for you. If you need assistance repairing your credit score, reach out to a company like FicoStar Credit Repair.

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